Apple’s decision to take 30% from all in-app subscriptions borne out of an iOS app remains controversial, but during last weeks shareholders meeting, Appel COO Tim Cook dispelled the controversy and explained that the weight of publisher complaints actually centers on having limited access to subscriber information. Under Apple’s implementation, a publisher only has access to subscriber info if a user actively chooses to divulge that information.
To that end, Financial Times owner Pearson acknowledged the “global opportunity” Apple’s iOS app store provides to publishers but expressed reservations over Apple’s opt-in process for private customer data.
Person CEO Marjorie Scardino explained that as competition in the tablet and e-book market expands, publishers won’t have to blindly accept the rules set forth by Apple.
“It is unclear how their proposal is going to work, we are still talking to them,” said Scardino. “The important thing to remember is there are many, many tablets coming out and multiple devices … [from] Kindle to mobiles. If indeed Apple are not happy to give us customer data then maybe we will get it somewhere else.”
Which is why building the iOS user base is of utmost importance and why Apple’s 1-2-3 punch comprised of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad simply can’t be matched by any other competitor. As Apple’s installed base of iOS customers continues to grow, even publications as large as the Financial Times won’t be able to ignore it.
via Guardian
March 1st, 2011 at 8:33 pm
A SISTER! You have a twin sister. Obi Wan’s failure is now complete. If you will not be turned to the dark side, perhaps she will….
And Steve Jobs jumps out of the shadows with an iPad 2 shouting “NOOOO!!!!”
March 2nd, 2011 at 1:04 am
Don’t fight with Apple but try to persuade the users of iOS devices to get their informed consent to use their personal data. Apple doesn’t have privacy policies like Google and Facebook’s, which allow those companies, once you agree to use almost any of their services, to acquire and use your personal information with very few restrictions. Apple privacy policy doesn’t let it do that, so Apple simply can’t comply with the FT’s request that Apple hand over its users’ personal info. Under Apple’s privacy policy, all developers, including publishers, most obtain a user’s opt-in, informed consent to acquire and use his personal data.
So all publishers, including the FT, on the App Store must go to the user, not Apple, to get the user’s personal info. It is, after all, the user’s personal info. And, if, as publishers argue, their acquisition and use of that information benefits users, among others, publishers should have no trouble persuading users to grant their informed, opt-in consent to provide their personal info to those publishers.